hdparm can be used to query and set hard drive parameters.




 % hdparm /dev/hda
  /dev/hda:
   multcount    = 16 (on)
   IO_support   =  1 (32-bit)
   unmaskirq    =  1 (on)
   using_dma    =  1 (on)
   keepsettings =  0 (off)
   readonly     =  0 (off)
   readahead    =  8 (on)
   geometry     = 3876/240/63, 
                  sectors = 58605120, 
                  start = 0